Posts filed under ‘my boys’

I have been happily shopping at the book depository for a while now. Being in the UK books do take 10-14days to arrive but the prices are good and the postage is free so when they sent me an email about signing up as an affiliate I did. The link over there —> in the side bar will take you straight to the book depository and anything you buy I will make a small commission on (doesn’t cost you anything extra). So please feel free to click and shop. I think it is safe from Brett to mention here that I just put in a birthday order for him (his bday is August) for a lego ideas book, a harry potter time turner, a harry potter ‘fantastic beasts and where to find them’ book and a novel for me. The whole lot came to under $50. Have some stuff in my ‘wishlist’ for xmas presents too.

sorry about the advertising but thought I best explain the little ad in the side bar!

So it’s payday and I’m almost broke again now but all the bills have been paid – have got Brett’s bday presents sorted and have money put aside for Owens and Coreys – taking advantage of the toy sales at kmart and bigW. Corey is at the zoo with school today – hopefully the sunny weather stays and he has a ball despite the cold – at least they are going this time – last time it was postponed due to heavy rain. Brett and Owen are going rock climbing with cubs on Wednesday….can’t believe that term 2 is almost over and we are about to start holidays again!

Well I think its time for lunch now (bought myself a little handful of marina mix as a treat today so having that with some pasta – yum).

wow I have been so very slack about this blog so here is a quick catch up on my life right now…

Firstly, I’ve now been off my antidepressants for 3 weeks – I clean forgot to take them for a week and a half and then suddenly realised that I was still feeling good…great even…so I’m off them and its all good.

Which leads me to the next bit…I’m happy. Yes I have days when the kids drive me nuts, when I get overwhealmed by housework and knee high grass, when I’m stressed about money or broken down cars or life in general…..but overall I am happier than I can remember being in a very long time.

The boys are going along nicely although Brett seems to think the world has it in for him at the moment – I do hope that improves soon. He had a horror week last week but I have decided the best thing is to start fresh this week and hope we can improve things.

Lee and his son Ryan came on holidays with us up to Loxton and Adelaide for a couple of weeks. Was great to be able to introduce my man to my family – was even better to see that they all got on well (never really doubted that they would)!

I have finished another unit at unit (intro Indigenous studies unit) – still awaiting marks of course for the last two assignments but the first do I did well so should be all ok. I’ve also just (yesterday) started my new unit – Psychology of Wellbeing (positive psychology) which sounds really interesting and I am looking forward to getting stuck in (who knows maybe I can find something to help with Brett’s attitude to life in the learning materials). It’s my first level 2 psych unit so will be interesting to see if I can maintain my good grades.

This next couple of months I will be on a mission to get the house tidied and some repairs/maintence done too as we are looking at some massive changes to our lives….a new home and two additions to our family (Lee and Ryan). So hoping to see a big FOR SALE sign going up in a few months time – ideal time for the move would be at the end of the year as there is a good chance that the kids will have to change schools.

So there you have it life is good (mostly) and I am oh so blessed and happy!

School is back tomorrow! What happened to the holidays? They flew right past so quickly! So just so you all know that I’m still in the land of the living here is a quick summary of what we got up to….

Ditched the playroom and gave Owen his own bedroom – still getting them all cleared out of crap and sorted….new curtains/blinds will hopefully be up in a week or two. I still need to replace Bretts broken tallboy (Corey opened the drawers and used it for a ladder and broke it). Owen having his own room also led to another plus – he has his own dirty wash basket and has now (for a month) been responsible for doing his own washing, so far he hasn’t run out of clean clothes….am proud of my boy.

Discovered that I actually CAN start a lawnmower….bought one – it’s orange and it is pretty easy to start and doing a good job…am gradually taming the overgrown grass and reclaiming my yard.

Saw lots of Lee and his son Ryan over the holidays – mostly at his place. Not having enough seats in the car means we can’t just hop in the car and hit the road…

And the exciting news – yesterday I found an ad on gumtree selling a dickie seat for $200 – a good one with 2 seats and retractable seatbelts. Am going to pick it up on Friday morning and then it will be fitted into the back of the wagon and we will have wheels and be able to go places all 6 of us!

Uni is plodding along – 4 weeks left til the exam (assignment due on Monday week) not enjoying this unit at all (info systems) looking forward to the new one (aboriginal culture).

on fireworks….it wasn’t happening so let it go…..then a couple of weeks ago I met someone new, we chatted easily all afternoon it was comfortable….I went for a DVD night…we spent a lot of time together on the weekend…its still new but it feels good so far.

Owen and Corey had birthdays this weekend. Corey had a hungry jacks party (with about 15 kids) and Owen had a Wii party at Dads (with his 3 mates)….we have had an explosion of toys!

Looking forward to catching up with Mum and Dad on the weekend in Bendigo but lots to do before then including an assignment due in 2 weeks on my birthday….don’t want to be up all night stressed that day so must get a wriggle on with it.

so sorry it’s a brief update…but it has been (as always) hectic – looking forward to going back down to one unit again after exams in early December.

Uni – two new units just started (full time again for the next 13 weeks)today officially. Intro to Psych 2 & Analysis of Variance (another stats unit). I am actually really looking forward to them and have down the first two weeks work for psych already (they opened the units up over the weekend so I had time to get a headstart). The first essay for psych is about online friendships so really keen to get stuck into it (the hard bit will be leaving out personal experience and only including stuff from peer reviewed papers)! Have done my research and had a pile of articles printed and binded ready for me to start reading and highlighting and scribbling notes in the margins!

Owen – had an update with his teacher and the Austism group co-ordinator at school today. He is travelling well but we are going to look at getting him on a mental health plan. We’ve had increasing aggression at home – nothing alarming but it was suggested we get onto it a bit early as life gets harder for kids with aspergers going into the next couple of years so wouldn’t hurt to have a visit or two with a pscyhologist to help with things along the way. His teacher is most impressed with his manners and general behaviour though so thats great.

Brett & Corey have parent teacher interviews next week.

the fireworks? well maybe there is more than first thought as an SMS brings a smile to my face….will take it slow and see how it goes but so far so good.

A couple of years ago I mentioned at school that getting any news out of the kids about what happened at school was sometimes like pulling teeth. I was given three little laminated cards with smiley faces and a brief instruction sheet for a little dinner time game called best, worst and funniest. The instructions and the cards (which had smiley face, sad face & laughing face) have long since disappeared and yet Best, Worst & Funniest remains a regular part of our day and is usually instigated by the boys. The basic idea is that you go around the table and say

“The best thing that happend to me today was……” then the worst and to ensure you finish on a good night then the funniest. The things the kids have told me as a result of this silly little game is amazing. And not always directly what is said but often the conversation that it leads to.

Today the best thing that happened to Owen, Brett and Corey was their dinner (spinach and riccotta filled pasta with a carbonara sauce), for me it was that Owen cooked the dinner (I helped but he did most of it).

and when it came to the worst thing (we did the weekend as Owen was at a cub sleepover last night and we were out for dinner so didn’t play)….gotta love Owen’s worst thing……”nothing….I had a perfect weekend”……gotta love that!

and the other exciting news …….*insert drumroll here* BRETT can tie his own shoelaces!!!!!! well done Brett!

and of course also looking forward to lunch tomorrow with my cousin who has just moved from Perth to Victoria (about an hour from here) and whom I haven’t seen in 15 years!

So where are we now. Spending way too much time on facebook and even just reading the news online and not enough on housework, trying to get some more motivation.

My study – I got a distinction for my first psych assignment and the second one has just been handed in. I have done all the online tests for the unit so just have the exam to go on the 3rd September – of course I am a little bit behind in my reading. The chapter I am supposed to be reading atm is on motivation and it talks a lot about depression and eating, not exercising and generally about being overweight and not acting to do stuff about it….I’m struggling – perhaps because it is just a little bit close to home – motivation is my biggest issue at the moment.

Owen – got a B for reading, his teacher is really impressed with his reading at the moment (reading at a 3rd grade level whilst in grade 2). The rest of his report was pretty good, just the ‘normal’ paying attention issues and social issues for him. He had an eye test and it turns out his eyes are under a lot of strain as his eyesight really isn’t very good (worse than first thought – they put drops in to double check). So he is getting new glasses shortly, stronger ones and I’ve decided to fork out the extra $100 for a pair of transistion lenses for him as I feel he would benefit from the sun protection – particuarly on long drives (to Adelaide etc).

Brett – got a D for writing – it is all down to his lack of muscle tone in his arms and we are doing all we can to improve it and help him to work on it. His cutting skills are much improved and his swim teacher has commented on his improved muscle strength so hopefully that will all come along.

Corey – is driving me nuts lately! Tantrums all day and carrying on at bedtime, he is testing his boundries big time. But at the same time I’d say my favourite part of the day is when he gets up and climbs into bed with me for a good morning cuddle in the morning and tells me he loves me. Cute, adorable little monster he is!

Zero (the cat) is legal now – he has been microchipped and registered. Next on the agenda is to have him desexed – hope he forgives me for that one (coming soon). I think I will try to book him in so that it is done on a friday when the kids go to Dads so he gets a lot of peace for a few days.

so thats me – gotta go help out with kinder fundraising stuff shortly. It would seem that I am in charge of fundraising as well as acting secretary atm as our secretary is going to resign and everyone appears to be too busy to do anything…..someone has to.